Avatar: The Last Newyorker AU
by iwasonceapalindrome
Summary: An AU about a war in the near future and the band of teenagers, led by Aang, who just want to end it. Follows the general feel of the show but modern-day and nix bending. Please just read it. I'm awful at summaries. T for language, violence, death.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

The cold water sent shivers up Katara's spine as it rushed up her ankles, seeping into the sand around her feet. The beach was cold today, and foggy—but it was the only thing that made her forget about the war anymore. If she wasn't at the beach, staring out at the water, her head would be filled with thoughts and memories, sweeping her up in their tide. She absentmindedly fiddled with the charm around her neck—a single sapphire hanging on a silver chain—as she continued to stare at the horizon. The necklace had been her mother's, before the first invasion… But Katara wasn't thinking about that now. She was thinking about the horizon. The horizon. The horizon.

She didn't stop looking at the horizon until a voice broke her train of thought. "Can we go now?" it said. "It's all… Sandy here." Katara sighed.

"Sokka, it's a beach," she replied. "Of course it's sandy." She turned around and stared at him. His hair was back in its usual weird ponytail thing (she never quite understood why he had it, but it seemed to suit him), a barbell going through his eyebrow and three rings at the top of his left ear. The other day she thought she saw him with a lip ring, but she might have been wrong. It was always something new anyway, so if he didn't have a lip ring then, he probably would soon.

"Well, it's getting on me, and it's gross," he said with a pout. Katara stared down at his muddy, ripped, old jeans; his scuzzy, second-hand Dr. Martens; his ratty, stained, disintegrating wife-beater and said, "I think you'll be okay." He sighed, and Katara gave him a slight smile.

"Just a few more minutes, okay?" she asked in the sweetest voice she could muster.

"…Okay," he conceded. How could he not? She was just his sweet little sister. He couldn't say no to that, especially since he knew how much that beach meant to her. Even though this sand was really gross.

A car sputtered behind them. Katara was surprised—who else would be on the beach on a day like this but her?—but didn't look back at whoever had pulled up. She was still focusing on the horizon. There were some clanks behind her and the sound of rope, and in a few seconds the person from the car was walking past her.

He was a somewhat scrawny, somewhat muscular kid of about sixteen. He had on orange trunks and a brown beanie with a large blue arrow going across it. Under his left arm, he was carrying an orange surf board.

Katara looked out to the ocean.

The waves were… Insane.

Surfing on days like this… Simply wasn't done. Ever. Not by anyone sensible, that is.

In a stupor, Katara turned around and looked at Sokka. He was looking from the kid to the waves, back and forth, until Katara caught his eye.

"He's not…" she said, trailing off as she watched the kid walk into the sea.

"He can't be…" Sokka said.

"I think he _is_," Katara said, shocked.

"Katara, he's not going to—OH MY GOD, WHAT IS HE DOING?!" Katara looked out at the kid. He was swimming out on his board toward a monstrous wave. He stood up on the board, about to catch the wave…

But then the wave caught him. It swallowed him whole, board and all.

Katara gasped and got up from the sand, running frantically out to sea. "KATARA!" Sokka yelled, running behind her, "KATARA, GET BACK HERE! YOU CAN'T GO OUT THERE! WE HAVE TO CALL THE POLICE OR SOMETHING! KATARA!" But it was too late; she was already fighting against the waves to the kid. She gulped down what felt like gallons of the icy water, looking for the kid every time she came up for air, but there was no sight of him. She would have guessed that he was far into the depths of the sea by now if her foot hadn't hit something. She gasped, and quickly dove. The water stung her eyes, but she pried them open into brine. Just below her, she saw a hand floating away softly, slowly, peacefully. Frantically, she grasped onto it, pulling herself back up to the surface and taking a gulp of air. She started swimming back to the beach, not realizing until then just how far away it was, and how heavy this kid was. Her jeans were weighing her down—why hadn't she taken off her clothes before she came out here?—and one of her sneakers slipped off her foot. She swam as hard as she could—she had to get back to the beach—she had to save this kid…

As soon as her feet hit sand, she picked the kid up and carried him back to where Sokka was, looking white as a sheet. He just stood there, looking at her and the kid in a stupor. She laid the kid down on the beach and put her ear to his chest.

"He isn't breathing," she said gravely. Sokka pushed her aside, and pushed on the kid's chest. Nothing happened.

"Sokka, what are you doing?" Katara asked.

"Trying to get him to breathe!" he said, still pushing on the kid's chest. Sokka slapped the kid hard across the face and yelled, "BREATHE, DAMMIT, BREATHE!"

"Sokka!" Katara gasped, recoiling.

"What? It always works in the movies!"

"Move over—I know I've only been in med school a few months, but CPR is one thing we've done." She pushed him out of the way, opened the kid's mouth, and began to do CPR. Soon enough, the kid coughed, abruptly sat up, and spat out some water. He continued to cough, hunched over and eyes watering, until it seemed all the fluid was out of his lungs. He turned around and looked at Katara… Smiling widely.

"Hi!" he said happily, "I'm Aang."


	2. Concussed

**Chapter 2: Concussed**

"Are you okay?!" Katara asked, bewildered. How could he be smiling like that?! He'd almost just drowned! He'd almost died!

"Uh-huh," he said, nodding. "I'm okay. So who are you guys?" Sokka lifted an eyebrow, and Katara paused for a second.

"I—I'm Katara," she said, still baffled at how he seemed to be totally fine.

"Hi, Katara," he said, shaking her hand enthusiastically. "Nice to meet you. Thanks for saving me!"

"Um… No problem…"

"And who are you?" Aang asked, looking at Sokka with a smile.

"I'm Sokka," he said slowly, as if trying to digest the situation, "Katara's brother."

"Nice to meet you, Sokka!" Aang shook his hand, too—Sokka took it back slowly, still in a bit of a stupor.

"Um… You too, Aang…"

"So, did I catch that wave? I don't remember."

"No," Katara said. "It took you under. You must have hit your head on your board or something… Well the board's gone now. Sorry."

"It's okay. I wasn't attached to it, or anything. It was my first time using it today."

"Oh—new board? Did you lose your last in a… Situation like this?"

"No, this was my first board."

"Wait, wait, wait," Sokka interjected loudly. "You mean to tell me that this was your first time surfing?"

"Uh-huh," Aang said, nodding.

"Ever?"

"Yep."

"In _this_ weather?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"You're… Not from around here, are you?" asked Katara. Aang shook his head, still grinning.

"I'm from New York," he said with a proud grin. Katara and Sokka drew back in surprise and looked at each other, then back at Aang.

"New York?" Sokka repeated in a flat voice.

"Mm-hm."

"As in, the state?"

"Yep. You sure do like questions, Sokka." Sokka stared at him for a few seconds, then turned to Katara.

"He's concussed," Sokka said bluntly.

"I'm okay!" Aang said, but Katara ignored him.

"Aang, we have to take you to a hospital. You're concussed," she said maternally.

"No, I'm not, really!"

"Aang," she said softly, "you think you're from New York. You're concussed. We're going to take you to a hospital and get you all better, okay?"

"But—but I am from New York! I swear!" Katara looked around to where she'd heard him park before. A few feet from the beach sat an old Volkswagen Bus, the yellow paint so faded it looked almost cream.

"Is that your car?" she asked.

"Yep! Why?" Katara stood up and pulled him up, slinging his arm over her shoulder so that she could support him.

"We walked here, and we can't walk all the way to the hospital," she said, "so we'll have to take your car."

"Katara, I'm _fine_!" he said again. He was walking perfectly fine by Katara, but he didn't take his arm off her shoulder.

"Sure, Aang, sure," Sokka said sarcastically. "You tell that to your good old friend Ms. Statue of Liberty."


	3. Sibling Rivalry

**Chapter 3: Sibling Rivalry**

"Well, he seems to be fine," the nurse said, walking over to Sokka and Katara in the waiting room. "He's definitely not concussed—not even shocked, really."

"But—but he says he's from New York!" Sokka said in a loud, high-pitched voice. Many people looked around at him.

"Please keep it down sir," the nurse said, with a very forced smile. "Maybe he meant his parents were from New York."

"But—but he said—"

"Sir," the nurse said with even more forced politeness, "I'm going to bring the patient back out, and you are going to leave quietly with him. Okay?"

"But—but—" Sokka stammered, but Katara cut him of.

"Okay," she said quietly. "Thank you." The nurse gave them both another forced smile, and a few seconds later, Aang was being pushed out in a wheelchair.

"Really, it's okay," he was saying to nurse, "I can walk."

"It's hospital policy that all patients—"

"It's okay, really," Aang said with a smile, standing up from the wheelchair. "Thank you, though." He gave her a particularly big beam and walked over to Katara and Sokka.

"See?" he said, "I told you I'm okay."

"I still think you're crazy," Sokka said bluntly, his arms crossed. Katara ignored him and stared maternally at Aang.

"I think you should come back to our place and get some rest," she said, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"WHAT?!" Sokka yelled, the nurses giving him icy glares. He glared back at them, but lowered his voice to a loud whisper. "We can't have that crazy kid in our apartment!"

"Oh, what, as opposed to that girl the other night who thought she was a fairy?" Katara said tauntingly. "You really do attract weirdoes, you know."

"Yeah, well—she was really hot!" he said defensively.

"Sokka, she looked like she hadn't taken a bath in months."

"Hey, whatever floats your—"

"And that isn't the point!" she interrupted him. "Aang needs rest. He almost just died!"

"But he's _insane_!"

"You know, I'm standing right here," Aang said. Both of them ignored him.

"Sokka, we can't just let him wander around when he's still in shock!" Katara yelled, leading them outside the hospital so that they could have a proper fight.

"The nurses said I was okay—" Aang said, following her, but again, he was ignored.

"I'm not letting that freak in my apartment!" Sokka yelled back at Katara, following her and Aang into the parking lot.

"I really don't need any rest—" and interjected.

"It's my apartment, too!" Katara said. "I pay a third of the rent, just like you and Gran-Gran! You don't get to decide everything about the apartment just because you're my older brother!"

"I'm the man of the house now!" Sokka retorted, "What I say goes!"

"The man of the house?" Katara repeated, getting increasingly louder. "You think that just because you're a guy you get to make all of the decisions?!"

"What do you not understand about 'Man of the house'?!"

"You don't even _do_ anything! You just sit around all day and play video games!"

"Hey, I've got a job!"

"YOU WORK AT BEST BUY! IN THE VIDEO GAME DEPARTMENT!"

"SO WHAT?! AT LEAST I BRING SOME INCOME IN WITHOUT TAKING IT ALL AWAY!"

"AND WHAT'S _THAT_ SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!"

"OH, PLEASE, KATARA, WE ALL KNOW WHY WE'RE IN SUCH A CRAPPY LITTLE APARTMENT! YOUR DAMN COLLEGE!"

"_EXCUSE ME_?!" Katara shrieked. "YOU'RE MAD AT ME FROM TRYING TO _DO SOMETHING_ WITH MY LIFE?! AT LEAST I'M TRYING!"

"ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY I NEVER TRIED TO DO ANYTHING WITH _MY_ LIFE?!"

"MAYBE I AM, SOKKA, MAYBE I—"

**"HEY!"** Aang yelled loudly, making them both silent "Stop arguing." The pair just looked at him for a few seconds, then back at each other. After a few seconds of a pleading look from Katara, Sokka sighed.

"Fine," he said, "the weird kid can stay with us—but only until he snaps out of it."

"Thank you, Sokka!" Katara said, hugging him tightly. She turned to Aang and said, "We're going to make you feel better, okay?" and hugged him tightly, too. Aang opened his mouth to say he felt fine, but, well, he was being hugged…

"Okay," he said, blushing. "Thanks, Katara."

"Ugh," Sokka said in disgust. "Just get back in the car and keep your hands off my sister."


	4. A History of the War

**Chapter 4: A History of the War**

"…What do you mean, 'there's no more New York'?" Aang asked Katara quietly with a voice that sounded heartbroken.

"It was… Taken over," Katara said sadly. "You—you know about the war, don't you?"

"Well, sort of," he said, his brows furrowed in distress. "I mean, my family told me about it and all, but after I left I swore to… 'Lay low'. So I've sort of just been traveling around for a few years."

"How long?" Katara asked.

"About ten years," he said, shrugging.

"_What_?!" Katara said, appalled. "How old are you?!"

"Sixteen."

"You've been traveling since you were six?"

"Well, yeah. But I haven't been driving that whole time, don't worry."

"That's not what I was worried about!"

"Oh."

"Why weren't you with your family?!"

"Well… It's a long story."

"Sum it up, then!"

"Well, wait. You tell me everything you know about the war first. It's more important for me to know that than for you to know about my past right now." Katara sighed, but started explaining.

_The Magnan were not a country, or a race, or a religious group, or any other congregation of the sort. It started out being a small group of world leaders and businessmen, but soon those leaders and businessmen got to talking about this fantastic new "organization" they had joined… And soon enough, a fourth of the world had joined in on it._

_The Magnan —or, as most people called them, the Reds (whether it was for their communist nature or the uniforms they wore, most people didn't even know any more)—was based on one single belief: They were better than everyone, and if they took over the world, it would be a better place. Even their name was based on their egos. They were the civil ones, it said. They were being humane by saving everyone else from themselves._

_The corruption began in big businesses. The oil companies, television networks, magazines, music studios—they all bought politics. Bribery was the way to win a politician's favor, and it worked every time. A few million here would hush them up about the subliminal messages. Another couple million would get them to not only agree with your policies, but enforce them. Elections were about to become obsolete. But that was twenty-five years ago, back at the start of the war._

_Of course, nobody actually marked that as the beginning of the war. Wars weren't wars until someone was invaded—and they were. The Reds now had entire countries under their command. Almost all of Europe and most of Asia were ready to "make the world a better place". _

_The first to go was South America, in the second year of the war. Brazil was hit the hardest, being the largest country, and was taken down quickly, but after three or four major battles. Little pockets of civilians still lived there, stowing away in any nook of the rainforest they could find—or so it was said. Nobody knew any more. The only news ever to come out of South America anymore was Red Papers, explaining how beautifully all the countries were doing now that they were under Red command._

_The next to go were two countries at once: Canada and Russia. Canada was taken over almost wholly, with the exception of a few rebel groups lingering in certain areas. The Reds kept their eyes on the rebels, but didn't see them as too much of a threat. Russia's invasion was long and gory, with many long, gory battles and long, gory mutinies within Russia itself. _

_The only places still intact by then were most of Africa, Australia, and the United States. The Reds were at a calm, almost seeming to say, "Well, we already have quite a lot of land; it should be enough for now." It seemed like those places still undefeated by the Reds would stay that way. The free could stay free._

_It was not unknown, however, that the countries the Reds now owned were being absolutely ravished. Occasionally, reporters would sneak into one of the dominated countries, only to have their feeds cut off short, the last sound being gunshots or shouts. Most of them never came back, and if they did, they weren't in a state to talk about anything, let alone their experience._

_As long as the free countries kept out of the Red countries, all went well for them. Daily life resumed. Children went to school. Adults went to work. Everything was the same, the same. _

_That was, until the fifth year into the war, twenty years ago, when the Reds got greedy again._

"When I turned on the news that morning," Katara said gravely, "I thought it was some… Bad Japanese monster movie. So I turned the channel. But it was on that one, too. And the next. And the next…"

_The Reds were invading New York. Even though only about twenty-five percent of the world's population was actually a Red (the countered they captured were still free at heart), and even though the armada sent to New York was just a fraction of that, it was overwhelming._

_The battle at New York went on for three months. Every day there was constant, unwavering fighting. The American soldiers did the best they could to defend one of their countries' most beloved cities, they couldn't fend the Reds off._

_But, strangely, once the Reds had New York, they never tried to invade the rest of the states. The U.S. decided that if New York was all they wanted, then by all means, just let them have it as long as that's all they take. It was rumored that that was where the Red Leaders congregated for mandatory meetings, and where the Leader and Founder of the Reds, Ozai, lived._

_Little was known about Ozai. The only things anyone could be sure of was that he was a widower with two children. Nobody knew where he came from, or how he started the reds, or why everyone followed him. They just did._

_For the last twenty years, America became prouder about its free status, and the dominated countries were seen as "too weak to keep their freedom". America was a peaceful country, aside from the occasional Red slipping out into one of the states and showing a display of superiority._

"That was how my mother was killed," Katara concluded quietly. "They came to California—just three of them—and…" She trailed off, staring at the ground. Aang nodded and put his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry," he said sympathetically. Katara didn't know what to say. How could _he_ be sorry when he was the one who had lost his entire state? There was a somewhat awkward pause before she said anything.

"Your turn," she said, sighing, still quiet. "What's your story?"


	5. A History of Aang

**Chapter 5: A History of Aang**

"Hey, weird kid," said a full-mouthed Sokka from behind them as Aang opened his mouth to start speaking, "want some beef jerky?" He didn't say it kindly—he sounded like he felt obliged. This was probably because when he opened the bag, Katara had given him a glare.

"Oh, no thanks," Aang said with a smile. "I'm a vegetarian." Sokka stopped chewing and looked at Katara.

"I told you he's crazy," he said, and walked away, toting the bag of salted dried meat.

"Don't mind him," Katara said, rolling her eyes. "Go on."

"Well," Aang started, "it started before I was born. Back before the war even started. Back before the Magnan, my parents were… Well, we were pretty well off, I guess you could say. They were big stock-buyers, and they always seemed to know which stocks would do well. They just kind of had that, you know…Sixth sense about money. And they knew who to know, too. They knew all kinds of movie stars before they were in any movies. They got to go to all sorts of parties, and movie premiers, and all sorts of cool things.

"But then a few years alter, all their friends started talking about this great 'club' they were joining, run by some crazy rich Japanese businessman, Ozai. They said it would really get my parents connected with the right people.

"So they started going to all the meetings. They never met Ozai himself, but they did meet a lot of people. Sometimes they'd get to fly all over to world just to go to the meetings—places like Sydney, and London, and Paris, and Tokyo—and the flights would always be paid for. Very luxurious.

"But then, at one meeting, things got weird. People started talking about how _they_ should run things. And then, at the next meeting, they were planning the invasion.

"Now, my parents were into the whole glamour scene, but even they knew this was too much. They teamed up with a few other people from New York and decided that they couldn't just sit back and watch.

"At the next meeting, one of the people they'd been talking to—he was a hotel owner in New York, really expensive hotels that nobody could even afford to stay in, you know?— stood up to this guy, Zhao, who everyone knew was Ozai's right-hand-man. He said they couldn't just invade a country, that it wasn't right. Zhao just smiled at him. And the next morning, there were all these stories on the news and in the paper about a certain hotel owner's fancy house suddenly burning to the ground, with him inside. And he wasn't the last to have his house burned down. Everyone who mentioned anything about immorality would suddenly have a wiring problem, or fall asleep with a lit cigarette.

"So my parents knew they couldn't stand up to the Magnan directly. They started collecting all the information they could on Ozai, Zhao, and the whole operation. They decided to be spies. They went to all the meetings, acting like they totally supported it. Even…Even when they invaded Brazil.

"And then, a few years later, I was born. And Ozai was starting to show a little too much interest in my parents. He kept getting Zhao to corner them, to ask them questions. And they weren't very good spies. I mean, they weren't exactly trained for that. So they knew that they… Might not exactly have a lot of time left. So when I was born, they decided to have me pick up where they left off.

"They started educating me about the Magnan before I can even remember. They home schooled me, making everything relate to the Magnan. And as a little kid, I ate it up, you know? And by the time I turned ten, they made it clear to me that it was my 'destiny' to help bring down the Magnan.

"But then, when I was five, my parents started acting… Weird. And I kept seeing Zhao around. He'd 'randomly' see us in the grocery store, and make weird comments about how my parents might want to stop smoking, because it seemed to be causing a lot of fires lately. Only my parents didn't smoke.

"So when I turned six, my parents told me I had to leave. I traveled around with one of my parents' closest friends, Gyatso. We never watched the news or read the paper or anything, because Gyatso said the Magnan probably had hold of it anyway. When I was twelve, Gyatso got sick and passed away. He was really old, but…"

Aang trailed off for a second, then started again.

"He told me I had to keep traveling, and never tell anyone where I was from. I think he knew that New York had been taken. He probably could've just assumed, though; it wasn't like we weren't expecting it. That's where all the people working against the Magnan were located.

"So, well… I kept traveling. I worked odd jobs here and there, saving up as much money as I could, because the money my parents had sent me with was finally wearing out. And I couldn't get them to wire me any because, well… They were probably already dead then, and they made me promise to break off all ties with them. They didn't want any of the Reds to know I was affiliated with them, let alone their kid.

"Then, well, things went pretty smoothly. I bought The Bison—my Volkswagen—and just kind of traveled the country. And then I almost drowned, and you saved me." He shrugged with the last bit. He barely seemed affected by any of it. On the contrary, he seemed almost… At peace with the whole thing. Katara paused, letting all the information sink in.

"But… Why would you tell me all of that? Aren't you supposed to be… I don't know… Lying low or something?"

"Well, yeah," he said with a smile, "but you saved me."

"Sounds like a load of crap to me," Sokka said, mouth still full. Apparently he had sauntered back into the room while Aang was talking.

"Sokka!" Katara said, "Show some sympathy! The kid's whole _state_ was taken over!"

"It's okay, Katara," said Aang. He got up from the couch and stretched a little. "I think I'm good to go. I really don't need to rest. Thanks for saving me, again." He started walking toward the door, Sokka saying, "Bye," in a relieved voice, but Katara stood up quickly and said, "Wait!" Aang turned around and paused.

"I think…" she said slowly, "I think we should put your knowledge to good use."

"What do you mean?" asked Aang.

"Katara…" said Sokka warningly, as if he knew what she was going to say.

"Aang… I think your parents were right about your destiny. I think… I think we should use your knowledge to help bring down the Reds!"


	6. Loading The Bison

"I can't believe I'm agreeing to this heap of bullshit," Sokka said angrily, grunting as he shoved a fifth duffel bag into the trunk of The Bison

"I can't believe I'm agreeing to this heap of bullshit," Sokka said angrily, grunting as he shoved a fifth duffel bag into the trunk of The Bison. It had taken almost six hours to convince Sokka to let Katara go with him, and he insisted on going with them as well.

"He's a sixteen-year-old boy," he'd said. "There's no way in hell I'm letting my little sister traveling with him alone."

Katara had informed her grandmother on their departure, and she was enthusiastic, saying they needed to get out of the house anyway. Katara made deals with her school to take her classes online, and come back to do the hands-on classes when they were done. Sokka had grudgingly quit his job (though Katara couldn't see why he was so sure Best Buy would go under if he wasn't there). They had packed everything of consequence rather quickly, taking up ever duffel bag, backpack, and suitcase they had. They made sure they brought their cell phones and chargers, along with Katara and Sokka's laptops, their MP3 players, and about twenty books (though those were all Katara's.)

"I really appreciate this, guys," Aang said cheerfully, helping them load things into The Bison.

"Shut up and keep loading things in, kid, before I change my mind," Sokka said, his teeth clenched in obvious outrage.

"Sokka," Katara hissed to her brother from over the back seat, "be nice. We're going to be traveling with Aang for a long time, and—"

"God, don't remind me, please," he muttered.

"So," interjected Aang, setting down a crate of various foods on the ground next to Sokka, "I think this is the last of it. You guys ready?" Katara nodded with a cheery smile on her face, but Sokka put his hands on his hips and said, "I have a few question before we leave."

"Okay," said Aang with a smile to match Katara's, "shoot."

"Well," started Sokka, leaning against The Bison, putting one leg up on it, and crossing his arms in his signature I-am-so-cool stance, "where are we going to sleep? We won't have enough money for hotels forever, you know." Aang tilted his head to the side, looking confused.

"Hotels?" he said. "We can't use money for hotels. Not when we've got sleeping bags!" He smiled again, and pointed to the three ratty old sleeping bags that were shoved in the trunk of the car.

"So—what, we're just going to… Camp the whole time?"

"Well, yeah. Is that okay?" Sokka sighed, shook his head, and continued without answering.

"Where will we bathe?"

"Well, there are lakes and oceans and—''

"Just… Nevermind," Sokka said, glaring at Katara and cutting Aang off.

"We can probably stay with people who support our cause, too, Sokka," Katara said, trying her hardest to make him not revoke his permission for her to go.

"Katara, maybe this isn't the best—''

"Katara's right, Sokka. You know, I met this girl when I was traveling around who told me I could stay with her whenever I wanted. She was really nice, and a total anti-war activist. She was some politician's daughter, so she said she could pull some strings and get me a nice room somewhere for free, if I was ever back in Colorado—''

"Wait," said Sokka, cutting him off yet again, and now standing up straight, looking at Aang with wide eyes. "You're not talking about… About Yue Kita? The Governor of Colorado's daughter?"

"Yeah, that was her name—Yue."

"…You're joking." Aang tilted his head again.

"No, why? Is that, like, a big deal?"

"Sokka's in love with her," Katara said, chuckling.

"I am _not_ in love with her," Sokka said, glaring at his sister. "I just think, you know, she's cool, standing up for what she believes in." But Katara just stood there, her hands on her hips as she smirked at him. She knew better. Sokka hated everything about politics until Yue came on the TV (which was somewhat often), in which case Sokka thought it was the most interesting thing in the world. Katara figured he was probably more interested in her bleached-white dreadlocks than the current state of the economy.

"Well," Sokka said, suddenly smiling, "what are we waiting for? We've got a country of rebels waiting for us to help bring them together and start a movement! Come on, people, let's get going!"


	7. Enter Zuko

Aang drove. Katara sat up front with him, and Sokka lay sprawled out on the back seat, looking extremely bored while Katara and Aang chatted.

"So, you don't have a radio in here at all?" she was asking, still smiling at him. Aang was smiling as he stared straight ahead, at the road.

"Nope," he said. "I guess I've never noticed that I don't have music playing. It's always in my head anyway."

"Yeah, I bet he hears things in his head," Sokka muttered under his breath, but neither of them heard him, and if they did, they didn't pay him any mind.

They also didn't pay any mind to the motorcycle that zoomed past them in the lane next to them, nor the black BMW trailing fast behind it. The boy on the motorcycle was about nineteen. His head was ducked low and his face was hidden behind his helmet. He leaned forward as he accelerated, speeding out of sight.

The BMW, however, stayed perfectly at the speed limit. It never went a mile under or a mile over, except when at stop signs or turning.

"I don't see why he has to drive like that," said an old man in the back seat of the BMW. He was taking slow sips of tea from a travel mug. "It's like he wants to call attention to himself."

"I—I don't know, General Iroh, sir," said one of the two men in the car besides Iroh. It was obvious he was nervous.

"It was simply a rhetorical question," Iroh said slowly, softly, and took another sip of tea. The man looked uncomfortable still, but Iroh just smiled and continued sipping his tea.

Up ahead, the one on the motorcycle zoomed off into the parking lot of an old-looking Italian restaurant. The BMW followed behind and parked perfectly in a spot next to the two he was parked horizontally across.

He took off his helmet and shook his hair—it was black, which made him look even paler than he actually was. The only part of him that wasn't pale was a large, purple-red burn covering his left eye and a good portion of his face.

"This is stupid," he said venomously as Iroh got out of the car. "We've been driving aimlessly for days. We're not going o find him if we don't actually _look_!" Iroh smiled at him.

"Well then, Zuko, what do you think we should do? Where should we look?"

"Let's just turn around and look in Colorado again."

"Again, Zuko? But I thought you said it was pointless."

"Well—I—I changed my mind!" he yelled angrily. A couple had walked out of the restaurant and glanced at them nervously, but Iroh smiled.

"Zuko, maybe we should just stop looking. Wouldn't you rather—''

"NO!" Zuko yelled, even louder this time. "Now get in the car—we're going to Colorado!" He glared at the two men that had come with Iroh, who were looking at him, frightened and dumbstruck.

"I said we're _going_!" Zuko yelled once more, and put his helmet back on his head. He hopped back onto the motorcycle and started it furiously, the sound of the revving engine reverberating off every solid object around them. He sped off, giving them just enough time to trail him.

Zuko was still fuming inside his helmet. Just _stop_ looking? How _dare_ he? Iroh knew what it would mean for Zuko to just… _Stop_ looking. Sometimes, he tought, his uncle could be the biggest idiot or the biggest ass hole he knew. He just couldn't figured out which one it was.


	8. The Gun Situation

"By the way, I guess you should know most Magnan we'll run into on the street won't have guns," Aang said conversationally.

"What?" Katara asked, aghast. In the back seat, Sokka sat up. "But—those soldiers—and my mother," she stuttered, but trailed off, letting him explain.

"They probably stole those guns from actual soldiers," he said. "The actual soldiers wouldn't be in towns, they'd be fighting. They were probably just the police-type-section of the Magnan. They probably just got a hold of guns to make themselves look important."

"But why wouldn't they carry guns? That's stupid," said Sokka, leaning forward.

"Well, to make sure they don't make themselves look bad. They're not even supposed to be in the states at all—well, apparently except New York—so if they're seen there are they use guns, think about how terrible they're going to look." There was a pause.

"So—so what _do_ they have?" Sokka asked.

"Well, they've usually got tazers, billy clubs, knives, and guns with blanks just to scare people. They've mostly got short-range weapons, which helps us a lot. Chances are that we're going to run into some Magnan on the way, maybe even some soldiers, so…" He paused, not really knowing how to phrase the next part of his statement.

"Aang…" Katara asked quietly, "Are you saying… We're going to have to fight?" She sounded scared.

"Fight the Mangan? Like, hurt them?" Sokka asked. He, however, sounded excited. "Do we get guns? Do we get knives or bats or something like they do?"

"Well… We're probably going to have to fight sooner or later," Aang said, "and I don't want you guys to be… Unarmed, or anything…" Katara looked down. She seemed to be mulling things over.

"So, what are we gonna get?" Sokka went on, leaning forward even more now. "Do we get guns? I mean, if all they have is close-range stuff guns would give us a total advantage—''

"We'll need guns," Aang said. "Hopefully we won't have to use them," he added, mostly to Katara's benefit. "And we'll probably have to get some close-range things too. We really don't want to draw any attention to ourselves. I'm not supposed to be alive, and if they found out _I_ am, then it won't be good for you either, if you're with me."

"How are we gonna get the guns?" Sokka asked enthusiastically. "Don't we need licenses? Won't that give away your identity?"

"Yue promised to help," he said, smiling.

"_Yue_ can get _guns_?!" he asked, stunned. He may as well have cartooned hearts for eyes.

"Well, she's a governor's daughter," he said, nodding. He looked over to Katara. She was looking down to her lap, silently.

"Katara…" he said, quietly, "are you sure you want to do this? I can drive you back—''

"No way!" Sokka said. Aang was glad at Sokka's sudden change in beliefs, but he wasn't so happy about Katara's. "We're going to kick some Magnan ass! We're going to meet _Yue_!"

"Katara?" Aang asked again. She paused, then look up at him.

"I want to help however I can," she said, nodding. "Even if that means 'kicking some Magnan ass'." She paused again, and seemed to have some sort of epiphany. "_Especially_ if we have to kick some Magnan ass!"

"That's the spirit!" Sokka said brightly. Aang smiled. "So—how long 'till Colorado?" he asked. Aang looked at the clock on the dashboard.

"About five hours."

"Five hours? Five whole hours?!" Sokka groaned and flopped back onto the seat, now lying down again, and looking disappointed. "Wake me up when we're there."


	9. The Manila Folder

**AN: Is it better with longer chapters versus more chapters?** **Leave me a comment telling me.**

It wound up taking about six hours to get to Colorado, not five. Katara wondered if Aang had said five just to make sure Sokka wasn't mad about the whole ordeal again.

Once they were in Colorado, Aang turned to Katara and said, "Do you have a cell phone?" Katara looked at him with an eyebrow raised.

"Do you _not_?" she asked. Aang simple shook his head, obviously unaware of why that was so strange. A sixteen-year-old boy, without a cell phone? Katara got hers out of her pocket and handed it to him.

"Thanks," he said, and started dialing a number. Katara heard it ring a few times, and then a female voice said, "Hello?"

"Hi," Aang said, brightly. "Is this Yue?"

"Yes," she said, cautiously. "Who is this?"

"It's Aang," he said, smiling. "Remember me?"

"Aang! Aang, I haven't spoken to you for…"

"Almost a year, yeah."

"What's up?"

"Well, I'm going to be back in town with a few friends. We're, um… Starting something." He paused, letting it sink in.

"Oh. _Oh_! Well, you're going to come se me, right? Because whatever you're doing, I'm in."

"I'm glad," said Aang, smiling even wider now. "We're only in Cortez right now, and I think we'll stay the night here, but I'll contact you once we get closer to Durango."

"Okay. I look forward to seeing you."

"You too, Yue." And with that, he hung up the phone.

In the back seat, Sokka had sat up and was leaning forward again. He had been since the word "Yue" was said. For the first half of the conversation, he looked hopeful and was beaming, but now he was pouting again.

"You mean we're not gonna see Yue 'till tomorrow?" he groaned.

"Sokka, it's almost seven and we haven't even eaten anything yet. There's no way we'll make it to Durango tonight," said Katara soothingly. Aang could tell she was still trying to make sure he didn't go back on any of this.

"Fine," Sokka said, crossing his arms and sitting back in the seat. "Are we gonna eat soon? I'm hungry."

"If you see anywhere to eat, tell me and I'll drive there," Aang said.

They wound up eating at some random steakhouse on the side of the road. It was dusty and old, but the food was good enough. Sokka got a steak (smothering it with steak sauce and eating it like he hadn't eaten in six years), Katara got a hamburger (eating it slowly and contemplatively, like she was thinking), and Aang got a large salad (almost toppling with vegetables, which he ate quickly but not as quickly as Sokka.)

Zuko sat in the grimy old hotel, flipping through his old manila folder yet again. This was the seventh one he'd used for the same set of documents—he flipped through them so often and they wore down so quickly that he'd needed to replace them about twice a year.

The file contained the following: one hundred and thirty-four pages of background information; forty-nine pages of inferred information; sixty pages of pictures, collected from pre-Magnan to as of ten years ago; and twelve pages of heavily-pencil-marked maps.

The one hundred and thirty-four pages of background information were about eighty-percent on Aang's parents. It included everything from how long they were affiliated with the Magnan to what kind of wine they preferred with Mahi Mahi. It gave a distinct history on how the two met, details on their wedding, information on their daily lives and careers, complete medical and legal records, along with all measurements that had ever been taken by tailors.

The other twenty percent was about Aang. It had every report card, progress report, and note he had ever been sent home with from school. Every single score for every test he'd ever taken was documented. It gave short sections on every other student he'd bonded and many transcripts of conversations Zhao had had with him. It also included a copy of his birth certificate and his obituary, which had the phrase "body not found, presumed to be burnt too badly" highlighted so much the phrase had become crinkly with now-dried moisture.

The inferred information had a small section dedicated to an essay on why Aang may not be dead. A larger section was an essay on why Aang was, by far, the most threatening force against the Magnan (assuming, of course, that he was, in fact, alive.) But most of this section was about what Aang probably knew about the Magnan—again, assuming he was alive.

The pictures were mostly of Aang's parents. There were school pictures that went back until the two were in fourth grade, and went up to family portraits taken a week before their deaths. All of Aang's school pictures were documented, along with all family pictures Aang's father had taken over the years. There were also blurry pictures of an old, beaten up Volkswagen bus speeding by with a teenage boy driving, but they were so distorted it was hard to tell if they were really of consequence. It was like looking at pictures of Bigfoot. There was a small section dedicated to pictures of a very old man, and his grave. The Volkswagen could be seen far in the distance of the grave, looking just as blurry as in the pictures before.

The twelve pages of maps were all of certain places in America. The penciled-in marks traced roads, or crossed roads out. There were also a few states circled on some of the maps: Colorado, Washington State, Oregon… New York was always either blacked out or entirely ignored.

Zuko was poring over the contents of the folder so much he didn't notice when his uncle sat next to him, even though it shook the entire bed. He only looked up when Iroh put his hand of Zuko's shoulder, and he only looked up to glare at the man and jerk his shoulder away.

"What do you want, old man?" he asked venomously. Iroh just smiled back at him.

"Zuko, I think you should get some rest. You already know all of the information in that silly folder. I promise, nothing will have changed." Zuko glared at the man even more.

"At least I'm _doing_ something other than drinking tea," he said, his voice sharp.

"Zuko, please, you need sleep," the man said simply.

"Don't tell me what I _need_!" Zuko yelled, and turned away from the man, looking back down at his folder.

"Suit yourself," Iroh said, sighing and shrugging. He walked over to the second bed in the room and laid down, turning on his light and falling asleep quickly, even though Zuko's light remained on all through the night.


	10. Breakfast

AN: I made a map for where the characters will be traveling and which location corresponds to which episode/s

**AN: I made a map for where the characters will be traveling and which location corresponds to which episode/s. The link is apparently not working, and nothing I do will make it. Which really sucks. If you'd like to see it, send me an email or leave me a comment and I'll send it to you. It'll probably help while reading the story. And if you know how to make a link work on here, _please_ tell me.  
**

Katara woke up the next morning with a pulled neck muscle. Their family had never really done much camping… Or road trips… Or anything, really, where they didn't sleep on fluffy beds. The Bison' back seat, therefore, did not exactly provide her with restful sleep.

Katara had wanted Aang to sleep in The Bison, saying he'd driven all day and deserved somewhere (sort of) comfortable to sleep. Aang refused, saying Katara should sleep there instead.

Sokka complained about having to sleep on the ground, until a thought crossed his mind: Aang, Katara, alone, sleeping bags, night, teenage hormones. He quickly agreed to sleep on the ground, keeping watch on Aang and making sure The Bison was locked.

By the time Katara got out of the car, Aang was already up. "Good morning," he said, brightly but quietly; Sokka was still asleep.

"You don't have to whisper," she said at a normal voice. Sokka snored a little. "He won't wake up. He's the heaviest sleeper I've ever met."

"Oh, okay," Aang said, at a normal tone now. "Did you sleep well?"

"Um… Yeah," she said, massaging her neck a little.

"Good," he said, smiling. "So—I was thinking that we should wake Sokka up in a little while, then go eat some breakfast, and then hit the road again. That sound okay?"

"Yeah, sure," Katara said, smiling and nodding. "I'll get Sokka up now. I'm sure he got enough sleep." Katara walked over to the snoring Sokka, knelt down, and shook him lightly. "Sokka? Sokka, wake up." But Sokka kept sleeping.

Katara shook him a bit more violently. "Sokka, _wake up_."

Nothing.

Katara sighed, shrugged, and punched his shoulder, yelling, "WAKE UP!" Sokka woke with a start and rubbed his shoulder.

"Ow," he whined. "Five more minutes…"

"Do you want to see Yue today or not?"

"Okay, I'm up, I'm up!" Sokka said, leaping to his feet. "Can we leave now? Why aren't we on the road yet? Come on, people, _move_ it!"

The group stopped a few miles away at a breakfast place. Aang ordered pancakes, Katara got an omelet, and Sokka ordered a bacon-eggs-pancakes-hashbrowns meal, with coffee. He had four cups before their food even came.

"Uncle, it's a waste of time to go and get breakfast!" Zuko fumed, his arms crossed. "We don't have enough _time_!"

"A good breakfast is the building block for a good day, nephew," said Iroh with a smile. "And besides, I want some tea." Zuko scoffed and got back on his motorcycle, putting his helmet back on. Iroh got into the car with his bodyguards, and drove to his favorite local breakfast place.

Sokka had a good portion of a fried egg hanging out of his mouth when Katara gasped quietly. Aang looked up, and Sokka stopped chewing, the egg still hanging out of his mouth. She was looking the the door of the restaurant, where a group of people had just walked in.

"Zuko," she whispered. The egg slid out of Sokka's mouth.


	11. Fight

"Who?" Aang asked, raising an eyebrow. But then, his eyes widened as his mind raced. Images flashed before his eyes—pictures of a little boy and his mother; pictures of that boy grown to a teenager, a scar on his face; headlines reading "MAGNAN HEIR DISOWNED"; an obituary for the boy's mother; pictures of a little girl, the boy's sister, smiling crookedly; a single memory of Aang's own, of the now-twenty-year-old looking at him hatefully through a car window.

Aang drew in a breath. "Zuko," he repeated, then shook his head, trying to clear it. "We have to get out of here—now," he said.

"But why?" asked Sokka. "It's not like he'll know who you are; you're supposed to be dead, remember?"

"No," Aang said gravely, "he knows. C'mon, before it's too late—'' But it was no use. By the time Katara had looked over to Zuko again, he was staring intently at them.

"IT'S HIM!" Zuko yelled. His uncle had already sat down and had been ordering some tea, but Zuko ran toward them at full speed. Aang jumped out of the booth and grabbed Katara's hand, running with her away from Zuko and the booth. "Sokka, come on!" he yelled, making sure to keep his grip tight on Katara. Sokka leapt up from the table just before Zuko would have grabbed him. He ran to where Aang and Katara were, Zuko quick behind him.

The diner was full of gasps and scared, shocked gazes. Some people yelled, "Call the police!" But everyone seemed to in awe by the strange spectacle to do anything. It wasn't often one saw a banished, burned heir chasing down a teenager.

Zuko was running fast—very fast—but Aang was quicker. He ran faster than anyone Katara had ever seen (too bad he was "lying low"—he could win the U.S. the Olympics, she was sure of it), and it was becoming increasingly more difficult for her to keep up. She just hoped she wouldn't trip and make him have to drag her.

Thinking too much—Katara tripped a little. Aang staggered, trying to make sure he didn't make her fall, and the delay was _just_ enough for Zuko to catch up and tackle Aang. "UNCLE!" he cried, "I'VE GOT HIM! I'VE GOT THE KID—''

"You've got who?" his uncle said, sipping some tea. Zuko growled in frustration and didn't even bother answering. Aang was pinned to the ground; Zuko had caught him.

"I've got you now," he said menacingly to Aang. "With you finally gone, the rebels won't have any 'secret weapon' to use against us—''

But Aang had taken advantage of Zuko's speech. He kicked Zuko off of him, straight in the rib cage. He felt a bone break on top of his foot, and he felt bad for hurting the guy, but he couldn't do anything about that now. He grabbed Katara again and ran to the entrance of the diner, making sure Sokka was behind them.

"GET HIM!" Zuko gasped at his uncle's bodyguard, groaning in pain. At least one of his ribs had been broken, if not two, but he tried to stand up to catch the boy anyway. The bodyguards, who had been staring about stupidly, not quite comprehending what was going on, now seemed to snap to their senses and chase after Aang. Zuko collapsed to the ground, and Iroh rushed over to him.

Aang ran with Katara and Sokka through the parking lot. When Aang looked back to see the bodyguards come out of the diner, he accelerated even more, and Katara slipped out of his grasp. She tripped with the immediate deceleration—her feet wanted to keep going as fast as they had to with Aang, but she couldn't run that fast—and fell to the ground. Sokka gasped as he passed his sister and turned to get her, but Aang yelled, "Sokka, start the Bison! I've got Katara!"

"But—''

"SOKKA, START THE BISON!" Aang yelled. He was now reeling back around to get Katara, and Sokka ran forward. In all honesty, Sokka was almost frightened to _not_ do what the kid said. He looked furious, especially now that Katara was be hauled off the ground by the body guards.

"Stop!" one of the body guards yelled. He looked frightened as well. "Stop, we've got the girl! If you don't come with us, we'll have to resort to hurting her—''

"Oh, like hell!" Katara yelled, and elbowed the man in the stomach. She broke away from him, but the other quickly grabbed her.

Aang's eyes went strangely blank the second he started fighting. Katara had never seen anything like it except for in Kung-Fu movies, and judging by the expressions on the body guards' faces, neither had they. His movements were so quick she could barely see most of them. The body guards were on the ground within seconds.

Katara got a second to gape at Aang and watch his face gain expression again before Sokka pulled up in the Bison.

"Get in!" he yelled. Aang took Katara's hand again and swung to door open.

"Go!" he yelled, before the door was even closed. Sokka revved up the engine (by the sound of it, to its dismay) and drove off as quickly as the Bison would take them as Aang swung the door shut. Katara looked down to see that Aang was still clutching her hand, and he didn't take it away from his. They could see Zuko stumbling out of the diner, clutching his ribs and trying to yell at the bodyguards. As they drove out of the parking lot and away from the diner, Sokka wiped the sweat from his forehead with his arm.

"Aang," he said seriously, "I think you have a bit more explaining to do."


	12. Brainwashed

Aang was panting. He shook his head again, and said, "I—I'm sorry. Please, let me just explain…" He caught his breath, and started again. "Zuko—Zuko's trying to hunt me down." Both of them were silent. She couldn't see Sokka's face—he was facing forward, driving—but she could tell he was furious.

"I used to know him as a kid. My parents never knew Ozai, but all of the kids of people in the Magnan knew each other. Whenever they had meetings, they'd keep us all together with one babysitter. Zuko was a nice kid—kind of, you know, emo, but nice. His sister was crazy, and she got all the attention. Sometimes, they even took her into the meetings. But he never went.

"And then, you know, the fact that my parents were rebelling got leaked and my house got burned down. Then a few years later, I read that Zuko's house had gotten burned down too. His mom died, and he was burned really bad. That's why he's got that scar. And then he was disowned.

"I saw him once a year or two ago. He passed me on the road—I only caught a glimpse of him—but he looked crazy, and something told me I had to get away from him. So I drove as quick as the Bison would take me and I lost him.

"I asked a friend who used to be in the Magnan about it later, and he told me Zuko wanted to hunt me down. He thinks it'll get his dad to take him back."

"Why?" Katara asked. "Why you?" Aang sighed.

"Remember that thing Zuko said about—about the rebels' weapon?" Katara didn't reply, just gave a single nod. "Well…" Aang sighed. "They were desperate. My parents—and the rest of their rebel friends—they knew they were done for, but they needed someone to bring the Magnan down. So they sort of…" He trailed off, and sighed. "They brainwashed me. But—but just a little! They really weren't bad people, they were just… Desperate."

"B… Brainwashed?" Katara asked, stunned. She was at a loss for words.

"If a Magnan is… Posing a threat to me or the people I care about, I go into a sort of… Trance. And I fight. I don't know what I do or how I do it, it just happens. So I'm guessing I knocked out those two bodyguards who were threatening to hurt you." Katara nodded. "I—I'm sorry," Aang said, blushing. "I didn't meant to, you know… Freak out on you like that." He looked over to Sokka.

"Sokka, if—if you want to turn back, it's okay. I understand." Sokka didn't say anything for a few seconds, but then turned back to Aang and gave the only straight face Aang had ever seen him use.

"Aang, you saved me and my sister. We're staying with you." His tone marked finality, and he turned back to the road.

"Thanks, Aang," Katara said softly. She was still holding his hand. He realized this, blushed, and drew his awkwardly away.

"If it wasn't for me, you two wouldn't have been in danger in the first—''

"Aang, don't worry about it. Like Sokka said, we're with you now." There was another pause before anyone spoke again.

"Aang, where am I driving? We probably can't go to the capital; we'd have to pass that diner. It's in the opposite way of where we're heading." He sounded bitter, but only a little. He had to remind himself once more that his sister's life being saved was more important than seeing some girl he'd never even met.

"There's a town in the Midwest where we could probably hide out for a little while," Aang said, and started feeding Sokka directions.

Katara looked down at the hand Aang had held, then back up at him. This kid was only sixteen. He was two years younger than she was. He wasn't even legally an adult yet. And yet he'd been brainwashed, been moving constantly for years, had his parents—his whole _state_ killed. And now, looking at Aang, he looked as cheerful as always. How, she wondered, could he have gone through so much and still be so happy all the time?

Back at the diner, Zuko breathed heavily and sharply in the car. The pain in his side was throbbing with every breath he took. The fucking bastard. This only made Zuko more bent on tracking him down and actually _capturing_ him this time. He'd get him. Zuko was _going_ to get Aang.

"Zuko, why don't you have some tea? It will help the pain." Iroh held out a cup of tea from the diner to him, and Zuko knocked it onto the floor of the car, not looking at his uncle. Iroh sighed, took a tissue out of his pocket, and rubbed it with his foot on the floor, trying to clean it up.


	13. Suki

"So, do I just keep on this road, or what?" Sokka asked, looking over his shoulder. He looked from Aang to Katara for a second, just making sure once again that she was okay and safe.

"Yeah," Aang said. He was massaging his temples, and looking tired. "I'll tell you when to turn, but it won't be for a while."

"Okay," Sokka said, nodding once and turning back to the road. Aang slumped back into his seat.

"Aang, are you okay?" Katara asked. Aang looked up.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. That just… Hasn't happened in a while. Again, I'm sorry if I freaked you out or anything." Katara didn't know how to reply; he _had_ freaked her out, but it had been to save her life.

"It's okay," she said, "really." Aang smiled at her, and after a half hour of silence from him he was back to normal, chatting away and smiling.

It took three hours to get to the town. Sokka had once again fallen asleep but was nudged awake by Katara upon their arrival. "Hopefully this place might actually be _safe_," he muttered, nearly falling out of The Bison.

Aang had parked outside of a dingy looking neighborhood, where the houses were so small they could have passed off as apartments had they not been separated. Everything about it was gray and bleak—even the sky was cloudier here. Aang walked past a few, until he reached one and said, "Oh—here it is. I think." Sokka sighed exasperatedly as Aang rapped on the door a few times.

The door flung open. Katara gasped as Aang's shirt was grabbed in a tight fist, and an icy voice came from inside the door. "Who the hell are _you_?" it said.

Sokka's eyes were wide; Katara had recoiled in a bit of shock; Aang, however, was simply smiling at the face neither Katara nor Sokka could see from in front of the mostly-closed door.

"Hi!" Aang said. "My name is Aang, and, um, I think I might have helped your town out a few years ago. If I could just—''

"Wait," he voice said, softening substantially. "You're Aang?" The door creaked open, and let a bit of hazy yellow light filter onto the gray-green grass. A girl no older tan seventeen was standing in the doorway. She had short brown hair, just above her shoulders, and was wearing ripped jeans, a white tank top, and wraps around her hands. She looked like she'd just been fighting—or, at least, punching _something_, judging by the hand wraps—and Sokka couldn't help noticing the tattoo peeking out of her tank top on her left shoulder. She let Aang's shirt go (though it now poked out where she had held it) and crossed her arms, leaning on the doorway. She was smiling at him now.

"Um, yeah," Aang said, smiling and trying to fix his shirt. "Hi. I was wondering if we could—well, we ran into a bit of trouble, and—well, we need a place to stay. These are my friends, Katara and Sokka. If you don't mind, they need a place, too."

"Of course!" she said, now standing up straight and beaming. "Nobody here could turn down the savior of our town. Hell, it's no Hollywood, but it's home. Come on in. My name's Suki, by the way." She walked back into the house, gesturing for the group to follow. Sokka followed her in first, rather enthusiastically, and Katara whispered to Aang, "How did you save this town?"

"I don't exactly know all the details," Aang said, blushing a little. "All I know is there was a group of Magnan about to do a 'demonstration' on this place that had to do with a lot of kerosene, and I went into a trance. The next thing I knew the Magnan were out cold and the town was okay."

"Wow," Katara said, mostly to herself as she walked through the doorway.

The inside was sort of messy, but not too messy. There was a punching bag in the front room—probably the reason for the hand wraps—along with a little table, a beat up sofa, and a TV.

"So—do you live here alone? It looks like only one person could fit in here, but…" Sokka started, but trailed off. He was looking down at a towel that had been thrown on the floor.

"But what?" the girl said.

"Well," Sokka replied, shrugging a little pompously, "you _obviously_ can't live alone. I mean, there must be _some_ guy living here with you. Girls don't, well, live in places that look like _this_." He pointed to the punching bag.

The girl was crossing her arms and glaring at him. "Well, _Sokka_, I _am_ the only person living here, and if you don't think it's _suitable_ for a _girl_ to have a punching bag, I could easily get rid of it." She looked him up and down and said, "I could easily attach its chain to your weird ponytail thing, and besides, it's better to practice punching on people. It makes things more realistic."

Sokka's mouth was hanging open. Katara was stifling her laughter. Aang chuckled a little, but not really at Sokka, just at the joke.

"Don't mind my brother," Katara said, making sure not to laugh too hard. "He's just an ass hole sometimes."

"I can see that," Suki said, turning away from the group and leading them down a hall to a bedroom. It was small, but could fit a few people; the bed was pretty big. "Two of you can sleep on the bed," she said, pointing to it, "and one of you can sleep on the floor. I have an air mattress if you need it."

"It's okay. I've got a sleeping bag," Aang said, smiling. "But then where will you sleep?"

"I'll take the sofa," Suki said. She sat on the edge of the bed and said, "So, what's your story? How'd you end up here again?"

And, still smiling, Aang recounted for her the last few days, all back to where he had met Katara and Sokka.

Katara was shocked to realize how little time had passed since she'd met Aang.

The group hung around Suki's place for the next few hours. The watched a little TV, ate some lunch, and talked. They all seemed to need a nice break after the chaos that morning and being on the road for a few hours. It felt like they'd worked twenty-hour shifts at some grueling job, and they were just happy to get a break.

Suki was funny and nice, even though she was a little, in Katara's later words, "rough". She bonded quickly with the group—even Sokka. Sort of. If he didn't keep making sexist comments, Katara thought, the whole situation would have been a lot less awkward for all of them. She almost felt _responsible_ for his stupidity. The awkwardness reached an ultimate peak, however, when Sokka asked about the punching bag.

"Well, I have to keep in constant training," Suki said, taking a sip from a beer in a glass bottle.

"But—why?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow. "I mean, it's not like you're some champion fighter or something, am I right?" He seemed to think this was a funny joke, but Suki just glared at him again.

"Actually, I'm a black belt in karate and one of the best fighters in the state, thanks."

"But—I mean, shouldn't you be concentrating on cooking, or something?" Suki was now glowering at him with a look of the utmost distaste.

"Why? Because I'm a girl? I'll have you know that the top ten fighters in this state are girls, and they're all in the same academy as I am!"

"Well, yeah, in the _state_, maybe. But isn't Colorado sort of a hippie state?"

"Sokka, shut up," Katara whispered, but the argument continued.

"You think you could do better than us in a fight, Mr. Not-Only-Am-I-From-A-Major-State-I-Am-Also-Male?"

"Well, I'm not saying it'd be _too_ easy, but—''

"What Sokka means to say is," Aang started, but then just stopped. He couldn't think of anything to save Sokka at this point. His impression on Suki was pretty much unsalvageable by now.

"I'd like to see you say that in front of all of the girls I spar with," she said, venomously. "It'd be a bloodbath." She took another swig from the beer and crossed her arms tightly, not looking at Sokka. Her anger marked the finality of the conversation, and all was quiet for a little while.

"So, um," Aang said nervously, "I'm gonna… Go… Um… Check out the town. Yeah. Maybe, um, get some supplied. Katara, do you want to come?"

"Sure," she said hastily. It was obviously she was feeling extremely uncomfortable and embarrassed by her brother. "Sokka, you come too."

"Why?" asked Sokka. He was still staring at Suki, though completely lacking the bitterness in the glances she kept shooting him.

"Because _I said so_," Katara said, through clenched teeth. Sokka shrugged.

"Fine, whatever," he said, and got up from the couch on with they had all been seated.

Aang walked into a store about a half mile away from Suki's house. It was a camping store, which seemed practical except for the outrageous prices. The group walked about, looking at things they thought they might need until cringing at the prices. Aang picked up a little camping stove that seemed handy, but couldn't seem to find a price on it. He picked it up and brought it to the register.

"Hi," he said, smiling at the old man behind the counter. His nametag read "HI, MY NAME IS: Joe". "I can't seem to find a price on this, and—''

"It's you!" the old man, Joe, said, looking shocked. "It's you! You're Aang! You're the one who saved our town!" He smiled down at Aang looking almost blessed by Aang's presence.

"Oh—um, yeah," Aang said, blushing through a smile.

"It's free for you!" Joe said. "I wouldn't have this shop at all if it wasn't for you!"

"Oh—wow, thank you!—''

"John!" he called to a man on the other side of the shop. "John! John, it's Aang! It's Aang, the kid who saved our town!"

"Aang?" John shouted back. "No shit!" John ran to the front of the store and beamed at Aang. "Wow—_wow_—it really _is_ you, isn't it?!"

"Um—yeah," Aang said, still blushing.

"We've gotta tell the guys!" John was saying to Joe. "You've gotta stick around, kid, we'll buy you a beer to celebrate!"

"Oh, I don't, um, I don't drink—''

And before they knew it, almost the whole town had gathered around the little store, trying to buy Aang drinks and praising his heroism.

The party was flowing out into the streets by nine. Sokka was drinking his fifth beer with Suki, who was still arguing with him. He was still smiling; she was still glaring.

Katara was trying to pry her way through a large group of people who were all trying to squeeze into the store in which Aang was still located. She had left to make a phone call to her grandmother, and the store's already populous opening had increased almost tenfold since she'd been gone. "Aang!" she called, "Hey! Aang!"

Sadly, everyone else around her was shouting almost exactly the same thing. Katara took an irritated breath in, stood up straight, and rammed her shoulder into the crowd in front of her. She wriggled between all of the people, using her shoulder to navigate as best she could. She nearly fell onto the floor as she reached the little pocket of air surrounding the place Aang was seating.

Aang had another inner circle of people around him, who Katara almost immediately noticed was entirely made up of girls. Aang didn't notice her presence, and she huffed.

"…And so _I_ said, 'That's not my arm!'" Aang said. Katara figured this was the punch line of some joke he'd been telling, seeing as how all the girls started laughing hysterically.

"Aang, you're _so_ funny!" said one of the girls, wiping a tear away from her eye from "laughing" so hard. It was obvious she'd been faking it. She had blond hair up in a ponytail and way, way too much mascara, in Katara's opinion.

Katara crossed her arms and sucked her cheeks in angrily, waiting to be acknowledged. When in a few seconds she still hadn't been noticed, Katara said, "_Ahem_."

Aang looked up at her and smiled. He got off the chair he'd been sitting on (to the dismay of one of the girls, who had been sitting on his lap) and walked over to her. "Hi, Katara!" he said brightly, beaming. "What's up?"

"I just came to say," she said, bitterly, "that I'm going back to Suki's. I'm tired. So don't, um, look around for me, 'cause I'll be there. Okay?" Aang raised an eyebrow.

"But it's only nine!" Aang said. "Don't you want to stay at the party a little longer?" Katara eyed the girl behind him, who were all glaring at her.

"No," she said, "I _don't_." She pursed her lips and walked away. She couldn't say why she was so annoyed by the whole ordeal, but she knew she just wanted to get out of there.

Katara could hear the girls behind her giggle as she left and Aang returned to them. "What's wrong with _her_, Aangie?" one of them crooned. Katara had to force herself not to vomit.

"Oh, nothing," he said, "she's just tired."

"At nine?!" another girl asked, and all of them laughed. Katara huffed angrily, and made her way out of the store, out of the crowd, and back to Suki's.


	14. Gunshot

Sokka woke late, as always, the next day. He left Suki's room and went to the living room, seeing that Katara was already up, typing away on her laptop. Aang was nowhere in sight. Sokka stretched as he yawned, opening Suki's fridge. She, he noticed, was gone too.

"Where is everyone?" he asked, not finding anything of interest in the fridge and sitting next to Katara.

"Suki's doing karate," she said, still looking at her computer. She was working on a report for her online med school. "Aang's probably showing off for his groupies."

"Geez," Sokka said, "I thought you liked him more." Not Katara did look up.

"I like him just fine," she said, "It's none of my business if he has fans. I was just stating a fact." She huffed, then continued doing her report. Sokka shrugged, then went back to Suki's room, putting on some more old, grease-stained, ripped jeans, a pair of Dr. Martens, and a Ramones shirt. He put his hair back into his ponytail thing, and went back to the living room where Katara was.

"Do you know where Suki's karate place is?" he asked.

"She says it's a few buildings down from the store we were at last night," she said, still writing her paper.

"Okay—thanks," he said, and started leaving.

"Wait," said Katara, looking up from her computer, "You're not going to, like, go there, are you?"

"Well, yeah," he said, shrugging. "Why not?"

"Well, Sokka, I don't think she'd be, um… You know, happy about that."

"Why?"

"Have you not noticed she gets kind of irritated with you all the time?"

"Katara, that's crazy talk. Suki _loves_ me. Why wouldn't she?" Katara sighed and shook her head.

"Your funeral," she muttered as she continued working. Sokka smiled and left, sauntering down the street towards where the store was.

He found the karate school pretty easily. It's not like the town was huge or anything. He walked in and saw about twelve girls practicing kicks in sync. Sokka chuckled a little. There's no way these girls could be the state karate champions, unless the whole state really _was_ weak. Maybe they just meant in the female division? Sokka closed the door behind him and leaned against the wall. Suki heard the door closed and wheeled around at him.

"What are _you_ doing here?" she demanded, crossing her arms.

"Just wanted to see what all the hubbub about this place was," he said nonchalantly. She tried hard not to look Suki up and down, a difficult task. "I _figured_ it wasn't much. Well, I'll just let you girl keep dancing around." He turned to leave, but stopped when Suki yelled, "If what we're doing is no big deal, then why don't you fight one of us?"

"Suki, men don't beat up women. It's impolite."

"Oh, really? _You're_ worried because something is _impolite_? Well, screw that, Sokka. Come on. Fight me." She was now walking toward him, glaring. The girls behind her chuckled.

"Suki, I'm not going to—'' But Suki was already in a fighting stance, challenging him with her eyes. He sighed, rolled his eyes, and lunged at her, expecting to punch her lightly as to ensure no actual damage was done. However, when Sokka realized this had _not_ happened he noticed that he was pinned on the ground and that all the girls were laughing. A little embarrassed, Sokka got up and brushed himself off. "I wasn't paying attention. Come on, one more time." Suki smirked.

Once again, Sokka was pinned. The next time he tried, he almost got away but she was just to quick. It went on like that for another five minutes or so until Sokka conceded that he was wrong. Blushing, he said, "Listen, Aang, Katara, and I are going to be going up against the Magnan and I'll need to know how to, you know… Fight and stuff, so…" He trailed off, not looking at Suki.

"So what?" Suki said, crossing her arms. "What are you getting at?"

"Well, I know we don't have much time, or anything, but—''

"You're _wasting_ time right now but beating around the bush. What?"

"Could you… Could you teach me?" Sokka figured Suki knew what he was asking, she just wanted to hear him ask it. The smirk on her face proved that.

"Do you promise not to be pompous, sexist ass hole?"

"I'm not a—''

"Promise?" Sokka sighed.

"Fine." Suki smirked even more at that.

"Well," she said, "you guys probably don't have very much time here, so we'd better get working. You might only learn the basics, but… Well, anyway, this is going to take as much time as we can give, and hours upon hours of practice. Got it?" She didn't wait for him to answer. "Come on. Let's get started."

Aang returned to Suki's house five or so hours after Sokka had left. "Hi, Katara!" he said brightly as he walked in. She was still working on her paper.

"Hi Aang," she said in a monotone voice.

"Hey, a group of us are going to a club later tonight, do you want to—''

"No," she said, just as flatly as before.

"Oh," he said, sounding a little disappointed. "Okay. Well, um, do you want to hang out now, or—''

"I'm busy," she said, nodding to her computer.

"Oh. Okay. I'll, um, I'll just go back out again, then, I guess."

"Mm-hm."

"I'll see you later, then."

"Okay."

"Bye."

"Bye." He waited a few more second before turning around and leaving. Katara was somehow satisfied by the fact that she could let Aang down just by saying she was too busy to go out, but she didn't really know why.

The next few days were boring for Katara—she really had to finish her essay, and it had to be twenty pages long—but it was riveting for Aang and Sokka.

Aang seemed to be at a party or hanging out with people constantly. He asked Katara to come every time, but she always said she was too busy. He always sounded disappointed.

Sokka was constantly at the karate school with Suki, practicing with Suki, or hanging out with Suki. She even seemed to _like_ him now, which was a pretty big shock to Katara. Then again, they did have similar interests. Suki even seemed to have stolen Sokka's Ramones shirt.

Sokka, Katara could tell, was getting really good at karate now. He had moved past the basics and was working on more advanced moves, and Suki seemed really impressed by him, which meant he _had_ to be doing well. Katara realized she should probably start working out just in case of getting into a fight, but right now she just wanted to work on getting a degree.

"Zuko, are you sure he'll be here?" Iroh asked. They were staying in another dingy hotel.

"Of course I'm sure!" Zuko fumed. "Why else would I take us here? I got a call from an inside man saying he'd been spotted at a camping store in this town."

"Maybe there's some sight seeing—''

"Uncle, you know I only make us go places if I know I'm right." That much was true. Zuko always _knew_ he was right, he was just usually wrong. Iroh sighed.

"I'm going to get some fresh air," he said, shaking his head. He left the room and went to tell the bodyguard he was leaving. They were right across the hall. Iroh smelled smoke permeating their room and could hear their muffled voices.

"I swear, if that little prick orders us to do one more thing, I'm gonna put him in his place. He's just a kid, and he acts like some god damn deity."

"And what's the big deal about Aang? I mean, he's _sixteen_! Nothing he do is ever gonna matter. He's just another little punk trying to stir shit up."

"It's like he had some messy break up with Zuko and now Zuko's acting the part of crazy ex-girlfriend!" The two of them cracked up. Iroh took out the key to their door and opened it. When he walked in, the two jumped up, cigarettes still in their mouths, until they saw it was him, and they sighed their relief.

"Sir," one of them said, rubbing his cigarette out in an ash tray.

"Oh, you don't have to do that," Iroh said, waving his hand. "I heard what you were saying about my nephew."

"Sir, we were just joking around—''the second bodyguard said, but Iroh held up a hand to cut him off.

"Do you know why Zuko is so bent on catching Aang?" he asked, sitting down on a chair by the coffee table they had been seated around.

"Well, we've all heard stories, about the kid, but…"

"Zuko has had a difficult past," Iroh said simply. "As you all know, Zuko and his father do not have the best relationship. Zuko's sister, Azula, has always been the golden child of the family. Extremely quick witted, intimidating, severe, the girl was always the favorite of Ozai. But that all changed when Ozai started talking about trying to invade Pennsylvania. Zuko told Ozai he was being greedy and that America would fight back. The next day, Ozai's house in New York had burnt down with his son and his wife inside. Zuko survived, but now he had the scar to show what he'd been through."

"So—so Ozai wanted to kill his own _son_? And his wife?"

"Yes. And he succeeded with the second, as far as I know. But Zuko was still around. So Ozai disowned him and threw him out, saying he could come back when he found Aang, who we all presumed dead. The only way Zuko will be allowed back in the family is if he captures Aang. It's the only thing keeping him going anymore, I think. He doesn't really have anyone anymore. Well, except me, but I don't think he really cares about anyone other than himself, his father, and Aang anymore."

When Iroh went back to his room, Zuko was loading a gun. "We're getting him in the morning. I want to be there before the sun rises."

"Yes, nephew," Iroh said. "Now let's get some sleep."

Katara's arms and legs were crossed furiously. Her foot tapped at a sporadic beat and her cheeks were sucked in. She huffed and looked at her watch—it was two in the morning, and Aang still wasn't home. She had waited up all night just to make sure Aang got home okay, and for what? For him to think he could just stay up all night and not even call, not even say not to wait up? Who did he think—

"Hi, Katara!" Aang walked through the door, beaming as always. Seeing Katara's glare, he recoiled a little. "Is everything okay?"

"Fine," she said, still sucking her cheeks in, "everything's fine."

"Are you sure?" Aang walked over to Katara and sat down next to her on the sofa. "Because you look like something's bothering you."

"I SAID I'M FINE," she half-yelled, huffing again and glaring at him.

"Katara," he said, raising an eyebrow, "there's definitely something wrong." She sighed.

"There's nothing wrong! I mean, what should I care if you stay out the whole night with some groupies and never call to check in and don't even care if I'm waiting up to make sure you get home okay?!" Aang's mouth was open and he was drawing away from her, looking taken aback.

"Katara, I—I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't know you cared so much."

"Well—I do, okay?" Aang was blushing now, and that made Katara blush. "I mean—I mean, you're probably the last hope we've go against the Magnan," she said, regaining her cool a little. "I just got worried that they'd taken you, or something." Aang smiled, still blushing a little.

"Well," he said, "I'll be sure to come back earlier next time. But it's late, I think I'm gonna hit the—''

There was a loud bang outside. Katara jumped, and she saw Aang's ears twitch, almost like a dog's. He was very still for a few second, but then he looked at Katara and said, "Stay here. Wake the others—quietly. Stay in Suki's room until I come get you. Okay?"

"Aang, what do you think—''

"Okay?" Katara paused.

"Okay." Katara went back to Suki's room while Aang went to the door. Sokka and Suki were both asleep on the floor; they had been talking all night until, Katara assumed, they had fallen asleep. Sokka was spooning Suki, which would have been really cute if the situation wasn't so scary. She knew that bang had been a gunshot, she just knew it.

Katara kneeled on the ground next to Sokka and shook him awake. "Hey!" he yelled, but Katara immediately put her hand over his mouth and shushed him. Suki woke from the commotion and whispered, "What's going on?"

"I don't know," Katara said. "Aang came home and then we heard a gun fire, and he told me to come back here and wake you guys up and not to come out until he got us." They both looked petrified. Sokka's face had gone white, and although Suki's expression remained stoic, her eyes showed fear. Her hand gripped Sokka's tightly.

"Do you think it's Magnan?" Sokka asked, quietly.

"I don't know."

Aang opened the door quietly and crept outside, making sure to stay away from the streetlights. The sound had come from a way down the road. After a few minutes of creeping, Aang was back at the camping store. He looked into the store through a window in the back, and saw five men standing inside it: one of them was Joe, two of them he'd never seen, and the other two were faces he could never mistake again. Zuko and Iroh. Aang gasped a little, but breathed out slowly. He opened the back door mere centimeters so he could hear what was going on.

"That was a warning shot so you know my gun carries more than blanks, old man," Aang could hear Zuko say. Aang could see a hole shot through the ceiling of the store—the gunshot he'd heard. "Now, tell me where Aang is."

"I won't tell you!" Joe wept. "That boy is probably the last chance we have at taking _your lot_ down!"

"I'm warning you," Zuko said in a cold, raspy whisper. It sent shivers down Aang's spine. "I _will_ shoot you."

"Then shoot—'' Joe started, but Aang burst into the store through the back. He wouldn't let an innocent man be killed for protecting him.

"I'm right here, Zuko!" he yelled. Zuko's eyes widened.

"Get him!" Zuko yelled, and sprung forward. Aang left out the back of the store and started running back to Suki's house, intent on getting there and getting everyone out before Zuko caught up.

Aang seemed to have forgotten, however, that Zuko was carrying a gun. A bullet almost hit his ankle, but luckily hit the ground next to his foot instead. Aang doubled around so that he was no longer running away from Zuko, but toward him. He needed to get that gun away from Zuko.

Katara jumped again as more shots were fired. Sokka was sitting straight up, and Suki's knuckled were white from how hard she was clutching his hand. "We need to help him," she said.

"He told us not to leave until we got him," Katara said shakily.

"Suki's right," Sokka said. "He'll be killed out there. We've got to help him."

"But what can we do?" Katara asked.

"Hey, I didn't learn karate for nothing!" Sokka said.

"And I can call up the girls and tell them we've got a _real_ fight," Suki said, "instead of just some tournament."

"But—but they have guns!" Katara said.

"Katara," Suki said, taking her hand out of Sokka's and putting it on Katara's shoulder, "guns aren't everything."

Zuko fire more shots, and Aang dodged them all, starting to sweat. He needed a way to get that gun…

As Aang grew closer to Zuko, he knew he couldn't get any closer without getting shot. Zuko's aim was getting better, and a bullet even graces Aang's leg, leaving a cut but no wound that would leave a scar. To make matters worse, the other two men had left the store—and Iroh's side—and were now starting to shoot as well. What he really needed was backup…

As if on cue, Aang heard footsteps. "What the hell?!" one of the men yelled as a group of girls pounced on him from behind a building. Sokka, Suki, and Katara were now at Aang's side.

"What are you guys doing here?!" he yelled. "You're going to get hurt!"

"We have to help," Katara said. She was still frightened, but the adrenaline was now almost readying her.

"We couldn't just leave you by yourself out here," Sokka said. Aang smiled at them weakly and nodded. Aang quickly remembered Zuko had a gun as more rounds were fired at him. They missed him, but only because more girls were coming from the shadows. The two men had been taken down, and their guns had been taken.

Zuko was looking around, looking confused. He didn't know where the girls had come from or why they were such good fighters, and he seemed to be so distracted by them he'd forgotten Aang.

"Aang," Katara said, "we have to go." She had also noticed Zuko's confusion.

"I can't just leave Zuko here to kill this whole town!" Aang said, aghast.

"Aang, it's okay," Suki said. "We can take care of ourselves. What we need—what the whole world needs—is for you to save yourself and get out of here."

"But—''

"No, Aang. We can defend ourselves, I promise. Now, go." Aang looked torn. He knew he needed to leave, but he couldn't just let Zuko wreak havoc on the town. "Go!" Suki yelled, and Aang nodded. He ran back to Suki's house, Katara following close behind him. Sokka, however, was lagging behind. Aang knew what Sokka was doing, and knew he'd be okay as long as he made it quick.

"Suki, I—'' Sokka started, but he was cut off; she'd kissed him.

"I know," she said. "Stay safe. Practice. Don't be such a dumb ass. And—please, call me. Now, go!" Sokka smiled and nodded, running off. It was quick, but Sokka was kiss-drunk all the same.

They were out of the town in ten minutes. Granted, they had left most of their belongings at Suki's, but they had what they really needed. Aang still felt bad about leaving the town to deal with Zuko, but he figured the minute Zuko realized Aang was gone he'd leave anyway. And those girls were tough, he knew that. He just knew what kind of damage the Magnan could do, and that town was one of his favorites he'd ever been to…

"We're safe now," Katara said. She was sitting in the back seat of The Bison with Aang, and she could tell he was upset. "We're safe."

"Yeah," Aang said, quietly. "We're safe, for now." And with that, Aang's head slumped over to the window and he fell into a dreamless, uncomfortable sleep.


	15. Meditation

Sokka drove through the night. Katara stayed up and watched him drive straight for miles, only to make random, sporadic turns every half an hour or so. She could tell he was tired, but she knew he wouldn't be able to sleep. They were both too unnerved.

Katara knew what she was getting into by going with Aang—or, at least, she thought she did. She knew it'd be dangerous, but she'd figured their first run in with Zuko would be the only trouble they'd run into for at least a few months.

Aang didn't wake until about nine. Katara urged him to go back to sleep, but he refused. He told her he had to figure some things out and that he wouldn't be able to sleep again anyway, and although the first reason seemed plausible, Aang's half-closed eyes defied the second. Katara, however, figured she should just let him be. She didn't want to bother him any more than he really needed to be.

Sokka remained silent the entire ride. His knuckles had remained so strained as they clutched the steering wheel they'd been white ever since he got in The Bison. He wanted so badly to call Suki, but… At the same time, he almost didn't want to know what was going on. He knew she was capable of taking care of herself, but… Zuko was just too much for that little town. Sokka had never seen anyone like him. It was… Scary. And this wasn't like when they'd seen him at the restaurant. This wasn't some chance meeting—he'd _meant_ to kill someone, and Sokka had a terrible feeling that he was going to whether or not it was Aang.

After Aang had been up a few minutes, Katara noticed he was sitting weird, with his legs crossed up on the seat. Raising an eyebrow, she couldn't help but ask, "Are you… Are you _meditating_?"

Aang nodded and said, "Sometimes, if I really, really concentrate, I can get some of the information in my brain out without having to go all crazy. Meditating helps me focus long enough." Katara nodded. She tried to stay quiet, but she just couldn't keep herself from asking questions.

"Why are you trying to get information?"

"To see if there's any way I can help Suki and the others."

"Do you think they'll need it that bad?"

"I don't know."

"How long does it usually take for you to get information?"

"It's nothing consistent."

"But, how—''

"Katara," said Sokka sternly, but softly from the front, "let him concentrate." It was the first thing he'd said in hours, and his voice was raspy. Katara closed her mouth and nodded. She'd forgotten how important this all was—it was just so strange.

Sokka went to a gas station a few minutes later. He obviously didn't want to stop driving, but they were on reserve, and he figured it'd be more time-consuming to have to push The Bison than stopping for gas. Seeing the price, he sighed angrily, but filled The Bison up anyway. He went into the store, coming out with some Hostess cakes for "breakfast". He ate his quickly; Katara ate a few bites of hers and put it down; Aang didn't touch his, still meditating. When Sokka started The Bison up again, all three up them jumped as Sokka's cell phone rang loudly from the trunk. Katara grabbed the phone and held it cautiously in her hand, as if a snake would come out when she answered it. Aang opened his eyes and looked at her.

Katara answered the phone and shakily asked, "H-hello?"

"Hello?" a voice said back, anxiously, "Katara?"

"Suki?" Katara asked, sighing, "Is that you?"

"Yeah! Yeah, Katara, I'm fine, we're all okay—'' But the phone was quickly taken away from her by Sokka.

"Suki?!" he said, his eyes wide.

"Sokka! Sokka, hi! I'm okay—we all are. Zuko left just after you guys did. Well, sort of. He made sure to burn half the town before he left. I would have called you sooner, but I wanted to make sure everyone else was okay."

"Thank god you're okay," he said, sighing and smiling. There was a pause before Suki said anything else.

"Sokka—I don't think you should call me anymore."

"You're breaking up with me?!"

"No! Well, sort of, but not because I want to! It's just that Zuko knows you guys were with me, and I bet he'll be tapping all my phones. He knows you'll want to call me again, or that I'll call you, and then he'll track you guys down, and… Well, it'll just be better this way." There was another pause.

"I… I guess you're right," Sokka said, nodding.

"And don't worry—I promise we'll see each other again soon. Okay?"

"…Okay. God, I'm still just glad you're all right. I hope you kicked his ass." Suki laughed.

"Well, sadly I only got to kick his little henchmen's asses." Sokka laughed too.

"Well, listen—I'd better go. Watch, the little bastard's probably listening in right now. Don't get yourself killed, Sokka. And don't you dare go learning karate from some other skank, got it?"

"Got it." And with another laugh, Suki hung up.

Katara drove and Sokka sat shotgun with her, letting Aang meditate in back. He was exponentially happier now that he knew Suki was okay, and spent most of the time bickering playfully with Katara or making jokes. They went to a drive through at a Burger King for lunch, Aang still not eating or talking, just trying to concentrate. Once Katara and Sokka were done, though, he seemed to have given up.

"What town are we by?" he asked, now sitting back on his seat, looking relaxed but a little disappointed at his lack of revelation.

"We're near… Craig, I think," Sokka said, looking at a map. "Why?" But when he turned around from the front of the car to look at Aang, his eyes were glazed over, his mouth slightly ajar.

"What's going on?" Katara asked Sokka, frightened. "Is he okay?"

"You're the med student!" Sokka said, "You tell me!" Katara undid her seatbelt and hopped into the back seat, but by the time she was at Aang's side, he gasped largely and fluttered his eyelids a bit.

"Aang!" Katara said, "Are you okay? What happened?"

"I had… A huge influx of information," he said, obviously not sure how to phrase it. "Craig. We need to go to the middle of Craig. Just past it. In a mountain—there's a huge storage room somewhere in a mountain, filled with information about the Magnan. It's just one big achieve. We have to go. There's something I'm supposed to get."

There was a pause. Both Katara and Sokka seemed to be at a lack of words. After a few seconds, Katara said, "What… What, exactly, are you supposed to get?"

"I'm not sure," Aang said, now smiling, "but I know it's going to help."

"Well," said Sokka, now grinning as well, "let's go!" And with that, The Bison bucked as Sokka pressed on the gas, and they were off.


	16. Hike

**AN: Sorry if these come REALLY slowly. Summer school is kicking my ass a lot. Well, not really. It's just taking up a ton of my time.**

It turned out Aang's "huge influx of information" had not been coming from the _middle_ of Craig at all. It had come from outside of Craig, on a mountain that was practically impossible to get to. One thing was for sure—The Bison sure as hell wasn't going to _four wheel_ it down jagged, narrow, rocky paths. Groaning, the three of them pulled over and started to hike.

"Are you _sure_ this place is on _this_ mountain?" Sokka whined. He was not, per se, an avid hiker. He wasn't really even an avid walker. Stairs to him were daunting; any _mountain_ to his may as well have been Mt. Everest. It wasn't that he was unhealthy—he was very fit—he was just really, really lazy.

"Suck it up, Sokka," Katara said, smiling. "This hike will probably do you loads of good."

"No, it'll do the _world_ lots of good _eventually_. For now, all it's doing is causing me _pain_." Katara rolled her eyes, but smirked.

"Don't worry, Sokka!" Aang said gleefully, hopping from rock to rock and running up the steep mountainside. "We're almost there!"

Sokka ground his teeth a little, watching how spry Aang was. It made him feel like he was about ninety. "Whippersnapper…" Sokka murmured under his breath.

Katara couldn't believe he was complaining about having to hike. The scenery was beautiful—lush and green, with little trickling waterfalls all around. The fresh air smelled so good. Not like California sea air, but good in its own… Dusty way.

It took an hour and a half to get to the top of the mountain. Well, it took Aang an hour, Katara an hour and fifteen minutes, and Sokka an hour and a half. Once he joined his sister, he noticed Aang was not with her.

"Where'd… he… go?" Sokka asked, panting.

"He's looking for the entrance," she said, looking a little concerned. "He couldn't find it up here."

"He _what_?!" Sokka yelled. "You mean I hiked up a whole… A whole damn mountain… For… For nothing!" His anger was making him pant even more heavily now.

Katara merely shrugged, with an apologetic expression.

Aang ran quickly over to them. "There's something wrong," he said, looking distraught.

"DAMN STRAIGHT SOMETHING'S WRONG!" Sokka said. "YOU HAD ME HIKE A FUCKING MOUNTAIN, AND I HAVEN'T HAD NEARLY ENOUGH MEAT TO PRODUCE THE KIND OF ENERGY THIS SHIT TAKES!" Aang's eyes widened. Katara looked a little shocked. Sokka, she figured, wasn't actually mad at Aang—he was just hungry and lazy. Aang opened his mouth to say something, but then his eyes widened a little more and he smiled. He was no longer looking at Sokka, but over Sokka's shoulder.

"What?" Sokka asked, looking behind himself and turning in a little circle. "What? Is there something on me?"

"No," said Aang, "There's something behind you."

"SHIT, IS IT A BEAR?!" Sokka said, and whirled around again, but nothing was there. He exhaled, relieved, and turned to Katara, confused. She shrugged. Aang walked past Sokka deeper into the forest, the two others following him.

"Um, Aang?" Sokka said, trying to keep pace with him, "I know we haven't eaten in a while, but you didn't eat any mushrooms of the ground, did you?" Unfortunately, Aang didn't answer.

"Here!" he said, more to himself than the others. He knelt on the ground, running his hands along the mossy, grassy ground. Sokka raised an eyebrow. Katara put her nails to her mouth, trying to figure out what was going on.

Aang crept along the ground, pulling at the grass. "I could've sworn it was… Oh!" He dug his finger into the ground, and started prying it up with his nail.

"Aang, are you… Are you feeling oka—'' But Katara had cut herself of with an involuntary gasp. Aang seemed to have just pried up a square piece of land and exposed a hole in the mountain. Dirt flew into the air and Aang liberated the trap door, getting into Sokka's open mouth. He coughed and spit violently, making a sort of "Bleeeh" noise as he did so.

"Aang, what… What _is_ that?" Katara asked, walking over to the hole and looking down inside it. There was white linoleum lining the floor, light by fluorescent lighting. Stainless steel filing cabinets populated the room. A strange, sanitary scent was coming from it, clashing with the smell of the mountain.

"That," he said, grinning, "is the archives." And with that, Aang sat by the hole, his feet dangling over the filing cabinets, and he jumped down.


	17. Archives

**AN: Hope this chapter is more fulfilling than the last—I know it was super super short, but I want to get mileage out of these babies, even though there'll be about a trillion at the rate I'm going. **

**By the way, whoever knows where I got the number of the filing cabinet wins. No prize, just my admiration.**

"Aang!" Katara yelled, watching him disappear into the mountain. "What if there are Magnan guarding this place?!"

"Well," he said from far below her, "then I guess I'll just have to deal." Sokka put his palm to his forehead, but Katara got up and pulled him to the hole.

"Come on," she said. "We have to go help him."

"Do we _have_ to?" Sokka moaned.

"I just said we had to, Sokka."

"Oh. Right. But if we get out of this, I'd better be getting a cheeseburger. With bacon. Lots and lots of bacon." The two hopped into the hole.

The room was uncomfortably cold. It wasn't cold in any extreme; it was just an _unnatural_ cold that clashed horribly with the organic cold from atop the mountain. Katara rubbed her left arm, getting goosebumps.

Aang was running down the long hall that made up the room, passing behind file cabinets between him and Katara. She only saw little snippets of him, making him look like something from an old flip book. "Come on!" he yelled back to them, leaving an eerie echo.

"Let's go," Katara said to Sokka, starting to run after Aang.

"Lots and lots of bacon, you hear?!" Sokka said, trailing behind Katara.

It was impossible to catch up to Aang—this kid should have been in the Olympics, had he not been in hiding—but Katara wasn't concerned on making sure she was right with him. She figured if she was a bit behind him, she could watch his back. Sokka had apparently gotten over his laziness; he was running next to her, looking alert. He could've sworn he'd heard a fourth pair of feet.

"I think I found the right cabinet!" Aang yelled gleefully, a chorus of "Cabinet… Abinet.. Abinet... Net..." ricocheting off the cabinets and walls. "Yeah, this is it—number 217!" Aang pulled at the handle, but it wouldn't open. A key hole behind the handle glared at him.

"Crap…" he muttered, sighing. He turned to Katara and Sokka, who had now caught up. "What do I do?"

Sokka circled the filing cabinet pensively, stroking his chin. He poked the cabinet a little, then stopped. A few seconds later, he was pushing on the cabinet with all his might. He had obviously expected it to fall over easily—he yelped in pain, his arms clutching each other. "Well," he said, whimpering, "I guess we can't just knock it over."

Aang pointed to the base of the filing cabinet. The linoleum seemed to run into the steel. "They're connected to the floor," Aang said simply.

"Oh, thanks!" Sokka said sarcastically, "You could've told me that _before_ I tried to knock it over!"

"Oh, yeah. Well, um… Sorry." Aang shrugged and smiled apologetically. Sokka sighed.

"Maybe we can find a key," Katara said, trying to bring the attention back to what was necessary. "Did you see any key when you got all that information?" Aang shook his head.

"No," he said. "All I saw was Craig, the mountain, the trap door, this filing cabinet, and a file that said 'COMET PROJECT'."

" 'Comet Project'?" Katara asked. "I wonder what it's about."

"I don't know," Aang said. "All I know is that I have to get it."

"Well… Let's just see if we can find a key," Sokka said, finally joining in to help. "Katara, you go to the left and see if you can find anything. Aang, you go to the right. I'm going to search around here." Katara and Aang nodded, and were off.

They searched everywhere they could, trying to pull out all of the drawers only to find each of them locked. There didn't seem to be anywhere to keep a key—there was nothing in the entire place except the cabinets.

Aang's ears twitched at a sudden sound, and he looked up. Nobody seemed to be around. He had been feeling around the floor for some other kind of trap door concealing a key in vain, when his wrist was violently grabbed. Aang gasped, seeing a man with a dark red military jacket and a threatening expression. "KATARA! SOKKA!" Aang yelled, kicking the man hard in the stomach, "MAGNAN!"

The two ran over to him as quickly as their legs would allow. More Magnan had appeared seemingly out of nowhere—but that couldn't be possible. People couldn't just appear. They had to be getting in through somewhere, and it wasn't the trapdoor the three of them had come through.

Aang fought off another man while two more came at him. Sokka instinctively punched the man hard on the side of the head, drawing blood. The man stumbled to the floor, and Aang took the other out with a series of quick abdominal punches.

Katara seemed at a loss. She never fought, not even with Sokka. She didn't know what to do, or if she was even strong enough to inflict any damage, or—

A man grabbed her around the waist and started pulling her away from Sokka and Aang. Katara gasped, and he felt herself elbowing the man in the stomach hard. The wind was knocked out of him, causing him to ease his grip but not yet let go. Katara swing her arm backward, making a fist and landing it right on the man's nose. He recoiled and let her go, blood cascading down his face. Katara panted, shocked and somehow happily surprised at herself.

"They're coming from somewhere inside," Sokka said, panting and joining the others. They seemed to have taken all the men out for now. "There must be another way in. I bet there's a hidden room somewhere, and that's where they've got the key." They looked around, but there was no door visible. There was, however, a filing cabinet on the wall furthest away that was _just_ out of the straight line all the others were in. "There!" Sokka yelled, and ran toward it.

Aang, as always, got there first. He shoved the filing cabinet over, and it slid to reveal another room. "In here!" Aang yelled as the other caught up, running inside.

The hidden room looked very much like the room with filing cabinets, but it was much smaller and had only drawers on the walls. Luckily, none of the drawers had key holes.

"It must be in here!" Aang said, happily. He ran around the room, stopping on the left wall and opening a drawer numbered 213. He slid his hand inside and pulled out a small silver key.

"Yes!" he exclaimed, and ran past Katara and Sokka. He went back to the filing cabinet and jammed the key in. He tried to turn it, but it wouldn't move. "No!" Aang said desperately. "No, no, come on, turn, turn—!" He turned it the other way, and it moved along with his hand. He exhaled in relief and opened the filing cabinet drawer.

He ran his fingers down the files. "Aang, why don't you just take all of it?" Sokka said. "The more information we have, the better!" but Aang shook his head.

"There's a reason I have to take this file and only this file," she said. "And besides, I probably already know all that anyway."

"But—''

"Here it is," Aang said, cutting him off. "'OPERATION COMET'." He withdrew it from the drawer, and a loud siren abounded throughout the room.

"We have to leave!" Aang yelled, "Now!" They ran over to the trap door and looked up. None of them were even close to being tall enough to get through.

"Katara, get on my shoulders!" Sokka yelled. Katara climbed up his back and stood on his shoulders. She still couldn't reach the opening of the door.

"Now Aang, you climb up both of us and get out!"

"But how will you two—''

"Just do it!" Aang climbed up and out of the building.

"Now pull Katara out!" Aang pulled Katara out of the building. Sokka was left at the bottom.

"Shit," he said, noticing the flaw in his plan.

"Here!" Aang said, grabbing Katara's ankles and lowering her back in (with a small "Eep!" from the startled Katara.) Sokka grabbed onto her and Aang pulled them both back up laboriously. "Now quick, back to The Bison!" Aang yelled, running down the mountain. He went much faster than them and started the old car immediately, hearing Sokka yell, "AT LEAST SIX INCHES OF BACON STACKED ON MY BURGER," over the engine's rumble.


	18. Operation Comet

**AN: Three chapters in one week?! Astounding! And more to come this weekend, hopefully. I just really, really want to get to the whole Siege of the North bit. I loved that part so, so much. But, of course, I can't skip everything between! Anyway, thanks everyone for the reviews. Keep 'em coming! :D **

Sokka switched places with Aang mid-driving so that he could read the file. They almost went off the road, but there were no other cars in sight and no cliff to fall off of. Sokka got them back on track quickly while Aang slid into the back seat.

Katara leaned toward him anxiously as he opened the file. The document was massive—it had to have been over three hundred pages. The first fifty or so were written documents, then the rest a mixture of advanced-looking math, photographs, and pages upon pages of what Katara knew was balanced chemical equations. Chemistry had been one of the only subjects she hadn't excelled at in school. The sight of the equations made her groan.

After flipping through the pages, Aang started from the beginning. He took a deep breath in and started reading. Katara looked over his shoulder, but he read so quickly she could only get a few phrases—maybe even a whole paragraph—before he flipped the page.

"It's all written in code," he said, aggravated. "Not a good code, they're just replacing the words with other code words… Comet, it keeps referring to a comet. But they couldn't really mean comet—why would a comet be so important?"

"Maybe," Sokka said, "there's gonna be a comet that lands somewhere and it'll have poisonous space spores that they can use to kill people. Oh, wait, no, no! It'll have some property that allows them to make laser guns! Yeah! Wait, no—the comet will be the home of an alien civilization—''

"I think Aang's right about 'comet' being a code word, Sokka," Katara said dryly.

"Yeah, well, don't say I didn't tell you when the Magnan uses aliens to take over the word," he said, bitter that she didn't think his idea was genius.

Aang was now flipping to the section of pictures. It had many photographs of different metals being welded together, equations on blackboards, and what looked like several explosions. A set of sketches showed a bullet-shaped object with huge dimensions—different drafts of the thing were drawn, some with wing-like-shapes, some that looked twisted like a drill bit. Aang took another look at the bullet-shaped one. It looked familiar, but not just like a bullet. Like something else. Like…

"Oh, no," Aang said gravely, his eyes widening.

"What?" Katara asked, "What is it?"

"They're building a bomb." The Bison jerked to a sudden stop. Sokka whirled around.

"WHAT?!"

"That's what the Comet is. It's a bomb—a huge bomb." He groaned and slumped forward, his hands covering his face, his elbows on his knees. "I wish Sokka had been right…"

"Aang…" Katara said, putting her hand gingerly on his shoulder. She had no idea what to say.

"How am I supposed to save the world from the Magnan if they're building a huge bomb?" he groaned painfully. "I can't beat up a _bomb_…"

"Aang, I'm sure we'll find a way to make sure they don't use it," Katara said.

"Katara, there's no way we can stop a _bomb_!"

"Well—maybe we can stop the Magnan before they finish it," she said, hopefully. "It doesn't look like it's done yet—actually, it looks like they're only just starting to build it. Is there any hint on when it will be done in that file?" Aang skimmed through the pages.

"Here," he said. "It's a month—August. Oh, god. _This_ August."

"This _upcoming_ August?" Sokka said from the driver's seat. He had blanched. Aang didn't reply.

"Aang—we can't let this affect us," Katara said, putting her hand on his shoulder again, but more confidently this time. "We have to keep trying to bring them down. I know that if we keep trying, we can beat them before this thing gets finished. I know we can do it."

"Katara's right," Sokka said, consolingly. He seemed to be saying it for the benefit of all of them, including himself. "We can do this. There are so many people in this country against the Magnan, we can definitely build up an army against them. It might be small, but think about the Spartans."

Aang lifted his head, looking confused. "The what?"

"You—you've never seen _300_?" Sokka said, aghast.

"Sokka, he's been hiding away for years. I doubt he had time to watch anything, let alone _300," _Katara said, sighing.

"What do you mean, 'let alone _300_'?! That's the _only_ movie he should've seen if he'd gotten to see a movie!"

"Sokka, that movie has no—''

"It's just a movie," Aang said glumly. "It's not like it would've helped anyway."

"THAT MOVIE IS THE MOST INSPIRATIONSAL—'' Sokka started, but Katara held a dang up to stop him. Their fighting probably wasn't doing Aang any good.

"So," Sokka said, now at a normal tone, "Where to now?"

"I think we should get out of state," Aang said. "Zuko's in state, and when he finds out we took that file, he'll do whatever he can to track us down. We'd be best to just… Get away from here."

"But—Yue—'' Sokka said, but he cut himself off with a sigh. His head dropped a little as he said, "Yeah. I guess you're right. I'm just… Going to drive around a while, okay? I don't want it to look like we're heading for a certain destination. So I'm just going to take random roads."

"Okay," Aang said weakly. He was looking down at the file, hanging limply from his hands.

"Sokka," Katara said, "why don't we get something to eat first?"

"I… I'm not hungry," he said sadly. Thoughts of a bomb were rushing in his mind. He thought of the videos he'd seen in history classes of Hiroshima and Nagasaki… His stomach was in no state to digest anything right now.


End file.
